March

March is often time for goat kids, and while I'm not expecting any at my house, many of my friends are! These two little ones are a day old in the photo. Both Nigerian Dwarfs at Featherstone Farm.

expectant does relaxing in the sunshine

 This is Consider Bardwell Farm in Vermont. They raise Oberhasli goats, and make specialty cheese. There are also pastured pigs, chickens and ducks - they sell to local markets as well as NYC.

I had never seen a brick corn crib, elegant in its' simplicity.

The main farmhouse is in the back of the lower photo, 1814 it says at the top. The building in the foreground was the blacksmith shop, now living quarters.

Great business field trip with a friend, I was curious to see this farm I had heard wonderful things about, and I've had Oberhaslis on my wish list for quite some time, so it was lovely to see a fine herd of them.

NH had a warm February, and a snowy March, looks like right to the end, as the forecast is calling for another foot or so as March goes out and April arrives. No complaints from my Nordic skiing daughter! She loves to ski, she trains all year to stay in shape for her first love. She saves all the money she earns or gets as a gift to buy her own gear. It is fun to see her grow and improve at something she enjoys so much. She is blessed with outstanding coaches and a wonderful, tightly bonded team. Here she is at a championship race in Maine.

Back in the day, I joined my high school XC team, just so they would have enough kids to race, I was no where close to as good as my daughter is, but I enjoyed it and had a lot of fun! I've been on skis occasionally, but not in a couple years - but this weekend, when I took some girls to ski, I rented a pair; and since Viking Nordic was selling some of their older rental equipment, I bought them! I can't tell you how excited I was! I have only ever taken a few "selfies" and this is one. I had a blast out on the trails.


Spring is still coming, folks are making maple syrup, red winged blackbirds, some hawks. ducks, geese & turkey vultures are back. goldfinches are turning yellow, pussy willows are out - new signs of spring every day

Diana on skis

Proverbial Happy Pig

Phew, as you can imagine the flurry of joking surrounding this topic of the day! We have lived here for 13 years and never had the septic tank pumped... we were not sure where it was, although we had a general idea. It seemed to be one of those tasks that weighed on the mind, yet the seasons and years slipped away. Last year we knew people who's system failed in January - no fun!

I finally called (about as late in the year as possible for NH) and the owner of this company came a week ago. Super nice guy and extremely helpful. He answered all our questions and was kind enough to change his schedule to work us in. We tried the search the ground with a rod method, which would have worked fine if we had more time; but since time was an issue ( Friday afternoon before a significant predicted snowstorm ) we resorted to using a locator gizmo! it was really neat, a little tracking device that flushes down the toilet, it send out a signal that can be picked up by a receiver. Kind of like a radio collar used to monitor wild animals, although less exciting. The man pointed to a spot where we needed to dig, and left to get his truck. Good deal, I trimmed back the pricker bushes growing rampant in that area and my DH dug the hole. It wasn't too bad as the clever person who installed it had covered it over with sandy soil (MUCH) easier digging than the rest of our property!

the lid of the septic tank
the guy told us we could something else there to mark the spot and
have less to dig next time - we put a metal barrel there & covered it up

we were all happy that even though
it had never been pumped, it was in
working order, and there were no problems
we were lucky!  

It was recommended that he return every 3-4
years to keep things in good working order for the
size of our tank & number of people in our home

I was elated all day, it felt wonderful to get this off our minds and the "to do" list! Haha, I was happier than the proverbial pig! Like many things we put off, it also wasn't as difficult as anticipated, nor as expensive as anticipated. It was a great step in my quest to get control and order back in my life. Thankfully we got the job done just before the onset of winter, this morning it is a balmy 8 below zero at my house and we got 8" of snow on Monday!

Good Morning (Wordless Wednesday a blog project idea I picked up from Ginger Dawn Harman)

Wordless Wednesday

Come Set A Spell

 A porch, simple, yet timeless. Once common, now becoming extinct in a more streamlined and hurried era. Perhaps I'm idealistic, but I believe life would be better if more people took advantage of the gifts a porch has to offer. Shall I go on, rolling out the reasons I feel the common porch should be held in such high esteem? Or maybe I should ask you to reflect on times you spent on a glorious porch, simply because the more I think about it, I believe I could fill the pages of a book with mine.

 This particular sweetheart of a porch can be found at the Southern Vermont Dairy Goat Association clubhouse in Marlboro Vermont. The holiday dinner was a lovely gathering of club members, the last event before winter sets in. Always so much fun to chat and feast upon a variety of dishes folks bring to share. With so many demands pulling people in a multitude of directions, clubs, committees and many volunteer organizations find themselves with fewer people than in the past. "Back in the day" if people wanted to have some fun and be social they had to participate. Today we are flooded with opportunities and instead, usually have to choose between the many things that pique our interest. Thankfully the SVDGA members are committed to keeping the club going as intended; a place to promote the dairy goat, share information, continue educating ourselves, make connections and enjoy the company of others  that are also passionate about dairy goats.

Speaking of getting out and about, finding yourself in a social situation... here is my 95 year old Grandmother after we returned home from voting in the election, still exercising her civic duty! (isn't she adorable?) Voting day in our small town is a pleasant affair, you know nearly everyone you see. The Town Hall is also the main fire station. Part of the building is a meeting place and also holds the Friendly Meals each Tuesday and Thursday. The other part houses emergency vehicles, but for voting day they move out some trucks to make room for a huge bake sale that helps fund the Friendly Meals.

Out and about cruising back roads and main roads, always something to catch your eye as well as your imagination.

Alstead Center
There are fantastic sculptures all over town.

Morning sun on a frosted soccer field, shimmering gold.
Home of the NH Dlll State Champion Girls Team

This fella is fairly predictable, I enjoy seeing him/her on a regular basis - although I'm a bit surprised it hadn't yet left for winter. This one is quite brave and tolerates a fairly busy area with vehicles and people passing rather close by. Other individuals are timid, and take flight quickly. They seem to stick to their own territory, making it easier to identify individuals. With the pond nearly dry, this small rock has become a favorite resting spot. I watched it catch breakfast, then hop up to the far shore for a walk around to stretch out.

Overall it has been an enjoyable November thus far. Always fun to explore while trying to improve photographic skills.

Gold

Good morning

My favorite son, can't believe he is 18
(don't worry, I won't hurt any feelings, it is my only son)

Lily

Jake

The pinkest horse competition at the Vermont Ride for the Cure

Harvey
A part of our family for over 13 years, difficult to let him go this fall - so very thankful he was able to enjoy this glorious hike, it was a wonderful day, he was a great dog...

grown from seed sent from my cousin Lori
herself a lovely garden sprite

4 generations picking over blueberries
summer joy

back of fountain

Norwich Vermont

I keep having ideas to blog about, and then I don't sit down and do it! Each of these photos, like all photos, have a story behind them and perhaps more photos to add detail. If you have taken the time to scroll this far, you might find yourself curious about a few. I am thankful I live in a beautiful area, but then there is beauty every where.

The days seem to be flying by, seasons as well. My Dad used to tell me the older you get, the faster time goes. I remember hearing this when I was a teenager gearing up for college. Know what? Caught myself saying the same thing...

Enjoy your day, I hope you find many things to warm your heart and make you smile.